What is Internal Marketing?

Most topics Modern Innkeeper covers have to do with guests and the best ways to ensure they enjoy their stay. While this remains the ultimate goal, this blog focuses on demonstrating to travelers the upside of your vacation rental by showing how you and, if applicable, employees enjoy it.

You can accomplish this with internal marketing: the promotion of a company’s objectives, products and services to employees in that organization.

Some examples of this are:

●     Educate employees on company’s products and/or services.

●     Remind employees their contributions are pivotal to company’s success

●     Instill the importance of customer satisfaction (in this case, guest experience)

●     Act on and give credit to employee input

This results in those employees sharing the enthusiasm from those experiences with customers (in this instance, guests).

As a host, proving the benefits of staying at your vacation property effectively earns guests’ trust before booking their stay. Now, you may be thinking, “I don’t have any employees,” but that doesn’t mean you can’t execute this!

Here are multiple ways to do so.

 

Mention Product Experts in Description

Your vacation rental is not just an empty home where guests wake up and go to sleep. It has unique features that make it stand out, such as an at-home movie theater or backyard pizza oven, and it is your job to create excitement around these.

One way is to let the experts do the talking.

Let’s say you worked directly with the person who installed your movie theater-sized television. That person most likely told you all of its benefits and what makes it a superior product. Include and cite this information when mentioning the at-home theater in your rental’s description. Doing so gives it more credibility and provides guests another reason to look forward to their stay.

One of the highlights of your property may not be a movie theater, but this example has the same idea as anything else.

 

Give Credit to Services You Employ

People do business with others who prioritize employee happiness, so showing guests how well you treat those who work for you goes a long way. Do not misinterpret this and think guests have to hear directly from workers, but rather, show the former how you recognize the value the latter brings to your property.

An example: your landscaper does a stellar job maintaining your Japanese Zen garden, which is why you have so many pictures of it in your description! In addition to writing about all of its features, also mention who is responsible for keeping it so pristine. Acknowledgements like this will not go unnoticed, and travelers seeking a place to stay will find it admirable and feel more inclined to book your place.

Show Yourself Partaking in Activities

The best way to validate recommendations is to show guests you enjoy them, too.

Minus the repeat guests you have who already know the area, it is likely the activities and places you recommend are unfamiliar. Because of this, it is important to prove they live up to the hype you created around them.

Say you rave about a local restaurant in your description. Sure, you can simply mention it as a “top restaurant in the area,” but failing to communicate your personal experience there deprives them of getting a better feel for the place.

When they have more specifics, like what the atmosphere is like and what the best dishes are, they gain a better idea of what to expect and can more easily envision dining there.

 

Publicize Reviews

Lastly, although it may be a stretch to include, publicizing reviews further proves your vacation rental delivers the best guest experience!

Travelers on the fence are looking for something that separates one property from the rest, and that something often comes in the form of previous guests’ experiences. When your rental’s positive reviews highlight all of the perks, amenities and more, guests will feel more confident they made the right decision in spending their vacation there.

Plus, it is not really bragging if you allow other people to do it for you.

 

Earn Their Trust, Host Their Vacation

Hosts can boast about their property all they want, but if no one else familiar with it backs up their claims, they carry less merit. Conduct internal marketing to confirm everything in your rental’s description is true, and then let your guests experience it for themselves during their stay.